


A Knight's Duty

by yakutori



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, Light Angst, Mild Blood, Royalty AU, girls kissing because girls, if that bothers you, mentions of nakedness?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 11:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3445832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yakutori/pseuds/yakutori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yachi was the princess of her kingdom while Kiyoko was her loyal knight. The two of them were as close as could possibly be. Yachi just wished they could be closer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Knight's Duty

**Author's Note:**

> This was one of the things I have been working on for a few days because I was inspired by talking about AUs on twitter and then this happened. I tried challenging myself a bit to write less... friendly? Just like, write it more formally than my other works have gone in terms of narration and speech being fairly colloquial. Plus, girls. That's all I really need to say anyways. and oh my lord just forgive my titles cause I never actually title these things seriously so when I have to post it I kind of "???" idk if it really counts as teen but uh yeah.  
> Just in case you didn't read the warnings, there's mentions of blood in here if you're not into that sort of thing. It's nothing graphic, but I want to be sure we're all on the same page here.

The mansion the royal family owned for their parties was located outside of the main city the castle resided in, and was the scene of ritual balls thrown bimonthly to remind the commonwealth that these were times of peace to be celebrating. The parties were a huge event where invitations were coveted by every family, yet only the political families and other aristocrats across the kingdom were ever allowed to be in attendance.

Bodies dressed in newly polished armor lined the walls of the large foyer connecting to the adjacent ballroom that was gilded to match the posh atmosphere of the event. Light reflected off of the armor, catching the eye of anyone who entered into the mansion and making them acutely aware of the security that accompanied the place. The knights stood still, offering curt greetings to nobles and flickering their eyes across the rooms to ensure not one attendee was out of line in their actions. Although it had never successfully happened before, suspicious looking characters have frequently tried to sneak in to join the partygoers in their ball.

Colors filled the room, blending together in a whirlwind of rainbows and patterns that was dizzying to watch, yet entrancing as everyone moved together fluidly. Various foods sat in neat rows upon golden tablecloths in one corner of the ballroom, being replenished without fail by the cooks and servants as they depleted. Chunks of the audience would break off after a few songs to go grab small plates of chocolate dipped strawberries, éclairs, and other small desserts provided before returning to main floor with a twirl of their bodies. The string ensemble occasionally had a few winds join in for the faster paced songs, but mostly stayed to the slower dances, allowing the guests to chat as they swayed together during the dances.

The kingdom’s royalty sat perched in elegantly hand carved wooden seats adorned with decorations to match the rest of the party. The queen was engaged in a deep conversation with a few of the ladies of the kingdom, discussing this season’s colors for redecorating their homes. Her husband sat next to her, lazily overlooking the crowd of dancers while giving input on his wife’s conversation whenever she asked him for his opinion.

A little ways behind them, standing as close to the wall as possible, their daughter and only heir fumbled with the ends of the long sleeves of her dress. The dress was a lilac color, embedded with glitter and accompanied by a jeweled necklace so that the light reflected a prism of colors when shone directly on it. Her hair was pinned back out of her face, framing it in a way that complimented the shape. The princess was used to being dressed in such elegant gowns, but the stuffy atmosphere of these parties never failed to make her feel closed in and trapped. She was allowed to mingle with the party’s guests, but she worried that her speech training would fail her and the catty aristocratic crowd would use it to find fault in her. The princess knew her life would be harder the moment her father announced to the kingdom that he would have his daughter inherit the throne rather than wait for a male heir. The news was quite a shock to the kingdom, everyone wondering if the queen was unable to produce a male heir or if the king had quite simply gone mad. Despite all this, the king had immense trust in his daughter to rule the kingdom justly and saw no problem with what the masses thought of it.

“Your Highness, if you keep playing with your dress the stitching will come undone.”

“Oh, Kiyoko,” the princess held a hand over her heart as she jumped, effectively ripping her hand from her sleeve. “I’m sorry, it’s just habit. Besides, I told you to call me Princess Yachi. You do not need to be so formal around me.”

Kiyoko said nothing in response to the last teasing reply of the kingdom’s heir, but moved to stand beside the younger girl.

Yachi peered up at her best friend from the corner of her eye, noting how lovely she looked despite her claims of not getting dressed up. True, Kiyoko was dressed in her knight’s armor, the silver plate shining brilliantly due to the heavy polish it endured while being prepared for the party, but the princess was enraptured. Kiyoko's hair was pulled out of her face into a braided up-do with a few loose strands falling out an equally elegant way. Her face was relaxed, glasses perched on the bridge of her nose and lips slightly pursed as she was on guard for any signs of the event going wrong. Yachi was always stunned by how gorgeous Kiyoko looked even when she was simply looking around. Her cheeks flared up with heat as the older girl caught her staring from the side and the young princess rapidly shifted her gaze to every other surface in the room as she felt eyes burning into her.

“You don’t want to dance?”

The princess just about died when the velvety smooth voice of the knight flowed into her ears again. It was the same as finding an oasis in the desert; Kiyoko’s voice was absolutely refreshing. Gulping, she replied, “Oh, well, I’m not _that_ talented at dancing. Besides,” she lowered her own voice, eyes flickering to where her parents were seated just a few feet away, “I would rather dance with you than some stuffy noble looking for another reason to hate me.”

Kiyoko’s gaze lingered on her friend and softened a bit at her words.

“No one hates you, Your Highness. They are all afraid of change. It’s an unsettling feeling for them to not do things by tradition, and it is also natural. They don’t hate you, however.”

That was one of the things Yachi loved most about her companion. There was never a moment when Kiyoko made her feel unworthy or undeserving of her place as the next on the throne. There was never a time Kiyoko had ever made her feel anything but comfortable and cared for during their entire time together. The dark haired girl was the radiant sun on the princess’s darkest days, sending rays of light into every pool of uncertainty in her heart.

The party slowed down until the king finally ended it with a grandiose promise of another event in the future to celebrate the continuing peace. The royal family eventually piled into a carriage with traveling to the castle while the royal guard mounted their horses and surrounded them for protection against any disasters that could possibly strike. The mansion faded into nothing more than speck in the far distance, maids left on duty to clean up the mess while the family made their way home, Yachi’s mother lamenting over the fact that her daughter had failed to dance with the sons of her friends.

Peaceful days continued after the ball, true to the king’s words. The princess spent most of her time in her lessons, preparing herself for the next social activity that she would be required to appear at, smiling brightly and accepting the comments thrown at her from her mother’s friends who thought it was their place to offer opinions. When she was finally free from the shackles of the tutors, she sought out the company of her longest friend.

Kiyoko had been with Yachi since birth, being named the personal knight for the next heir due to her own lineage of knighthood. The older girl excelled in her training and studies both, aiming to earn her place as a royal knight of such high standing. She was a model knight for all of the incoming knights that wished to be accepted, helping the new members with their swordsmanship and archery skills. Despite all the grueling training she went through, Kiyoko also practiced activities such as sewing and cooking when she had the time in order to be well-rounded. If she had one flaw in these successes, it was gardening, which Yachi took great pride in being able to accomplish, even if the thought of competing with her friend was childish.

There was one other thought that plagued Yachi when she thought of Kiyoko. It was that somewhere in her life, she had fallen for the female knight, and there was no tuning the feelings out no matter how much she wished for her heart to stop pounding so hard when she saw the girl.

Today was one of the days where Yachi found the tutoring exceptionally boring despite her best efforts to focus on what was being taught to her. The lessons had begun to turn repetitive after a while, words blurring together since she had heard them all before in some form. She stretched her limbs, easing the tension out of them from being made to sit so straight and proper for the past few hours, intent on finding her best friend.

She started from the private gardens where they usually met, trailing her way through the castle until she hit the knight’s quarters, hoping to find some trace of Kiyoko there or at least some knowledge as to where the woman would be. Many of the knights were gone, out on rounds patrolling the borders of the walled city, and the female knight was nowhere to be found, but the head knight informed her they were scheduled to be back within the hour. Yachi meandered to the foyer of the castle, knowing she would be able to catch her friend as she came in through the entrance upon her return.

The princess entered the foyer only to hear voices yelling across one another and a few of the lower ranking knights scrambling off towards the stairs as quickly as they could still suited in their armor. Pushing her way through the circle that had formed of yelling voices, she let out a small shriek of horror at what her eyes stopped on. In the center of the knights, Kiyoko was being carried by another knight, her chest plate removed so Yachi could see the pool of blood seeping into her shirt accompanied by a large jagged cut on her cheek. She could feel the bile rising in her throat as she dashed in to crouch beside the other female, but there was no response from the unconscious girl save for her breath coming out in rapid puffs. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and her throat close up before her vision blurred before her.

The younger knights that had been sent off earlier returned with the family’s personal doctor and orders for everyone to clear the area save the knight holding Kiyoko that was to bring her to a room for further inspection. As much as Yachi wanted to protest, she could do nothing but watch as the one she loved was carried away from her, words failing to express her anguish at what she had seen.

The days when Kiyoko was receiving treatment for her wounds were both agonizingly slow yet a blur for Yachi. She made multiple mistakes in her lessons, unable to focus on them for more than a few minutes at a time, and put all her free time into trying to distract herself to no avail. Under the knight’s request, Kiyoko was to have no visitors as she healed and still refused to see Yachi even after she was deemed healthy enough to start moving around freely again. The doctor had explained that the wounds were not fatal, but the journey from outside the city walls until the castle had put too much strain on them to allow them to stop bleeding out.

It was becoming frustrating after a week of Kiyoko returning to her duties as a knight, but planning all her actions out to avoid any contact with the princess. Another knight had been assigned to stay with her whenever she traveled outside the castle, and Yachi wondered what she could have possibly done wrong to make her best friend so evasive. Kiyoko was by no means a weak knight, and getting bested seemed like an impossibility until it finally had happened. All of Yachi’s thoughts swirled in her head and they all pointed to one answer; it must have been _her_ fault that a knight had been so badly injured.

“You know,” Yachi had overheard a knight saying to one of the new recruits when she was on her way to a lesson after attempting—and failing—to once again see Kiyoko. “Our female knight is probably the strongest that we have, and definitely the most reckless. While we were patrolling, she had removed her chest plate during her break—they get pretty hot after wearing them so long—but rushed out when she saw movement in a patch of trees not far from where she had stopped. There was a pregnant woman on her way back into the city that was bein’ harassed by one of the bandits that likes to hang around. In order to protect the woman, Kiyoko ended up gettin’ injured in her place after she told the expecting mother to run for it. The bandit was caught, but not before landing his dagger in our knight’s ribs. When we asked her why she didn’t use her own sword, Kiyoko said she was afraid of putting the woman in an even more dangerous position.” The older knight shook his head while letting out an exasperated sigh. “She had good intentions, but the damn fool only caused us a lot more worry.”

Thoughts flew through Yachi’s head at an unstoppable speed. She _needed_ to find Kiyoko and let her know that her deeds were heroic, that she needed the girl to talk to her again. Her feet carried her to the knight’s quarters before her brain could process what she was doing. She was in a daze. Without thinking about the consequences of her actions, Yachi entered into Kiyoko’s room at the end of the long hallway.

The dark haired girl jumped, not expecting visitors to intrude without some sort of warning, and whirled around on her feet, words dying on the tip of her tongue as she saw who it was. Quickly, a hand slapped itself over her cheek and jaw while moved to cover her abdomen. Her face colored when she realized she was also only dressed in light undergarments, not even wearing a top since she was inspecting how her wounds had healed. It seemed like Yachi had yet to notice, or was at least not willing to comment on the lack of attire at the moment.

“Your Highness,” she finally spoke. “I didn’t expect you to come visit me. Are you not required for lessons at this hour?”

“This is more important.” Yachi’s voice was soft, despite the fiery look in her eyes. “I heard about what happened.” Kiyoko tensed up. “I want you to know that it is one of the bravest things a knight could do. Get injured for the sake of protecting the innocent.”

The older girl just nodded, still not looking her friend in the eyes. There was nothing to say. A compliment from the royal family was the highest honor to receive, and there was too much tension in the air to even think properly.

Yachi took swift steps until she was looking directly up at Kiyoko’s face. Gently, she placed one of her own hands on top of the hand already covering the other girl’s face.

“Can I see?”

Pursing her lips, Kiyoko almost shook her head, but stopped herself, letting out a sigh while lowering one hand. A scar marred her face from her cheek bone almost down to below her jaw, still pink and recently healed. Yachi traced the crooked line before leaning up and placing a kiss where it ended. Kiyoko dropped her other arm while Yachi continued to trace the slightly smaller, but still visible scar that had formed, placing a kiss on it as well. The confused look stayed on the knight’s face as the princess left one final light peck on her lips. Both the girls lit up red, mirroring each other’s embarrassment, but neither of them daring to look away in the moment.

“Y-your Highness, I’m not sure what to say.”

“Kiyoko,” Yachi breathed out, “your scars mean that you fought and were victorious in protecting the people around you. You’re just as beautiful with them as you were before they were inflicted upon you, please don’t hide them from me anymore.”

“I wasn’t _hiding_ —“

“Kiyoko, I love you so please don’t avoid me anymore. It’s hard not to see you.”

Yachi’s voice cracked as she let out her confession, but she steeled herself to stay for the answer.

“Your Highness, you know I can’t respond to that.”

“Don’t think of us as a knight and princess. We’re just two girls.”

The female knight stayed quiet for a long time and Yachi’s palms began to grow clammy as her nervousness grew. Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at her feet, ready to turn tail once she heard the rejection. Kiyoko just moved forward, lifting Yachi’s chin before closing the distance between the two of them, lips eagerly seeking out the younger girl.

“I love you, too, Yachi. Ever since we grew up and out of the awkward childhood stages and into adolescence.”

The two girls smiled at one another, before Kiyoko excused herself to go fix her state of undress to which Yachi’s blush returned full bloom. The longer haired girl patted the seat next to her on the bed upon her return, and the two sat together, merely enjoying each other’s presence. Kiyoko’s fingers brushed lazily through Yachi’s hair as the younger girl placed her head on her new lover’s shoulder, almost lulled off to sleep by the calming ministrations.

“Kiyoko? One more thing.”

“Hmm?”

“Just call me Hitoka.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, I'm not sure if I liked how it ended completely, but it was something. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this!


End file.
